After serving for a semester in sunny South Florida at the University of Miami, the Lord has called me to be a missionary at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia! You’ll typically find me grilling burgers for my fraternity men in the Catholic center parking lot, fishing in the on-campus lake, playing intramural sports with the students, or leading praise and worship for our ministry!

Jesus has totally changed my life (AKA hit me with a couple spiritual 2×4’s), and I’d love to tell you all about that story!

Jesus has done so much in my life to bring me to where I am today. There is no way that I can fully describe His love and the way it transformed me in a few simple paragraphs, but I am going to try my best (if you want to hear more of my story please feel free to ask me!).

I was born and raised Catholic- like many others in Miami- and spent the first 18 years of my life in my little Catholic bubble until I entered college. My first day of class, one of my professors finished introducing himself by saying “I was born and raised Catholic, but that’s dumb and religion is stupid”…bubble popped. For the first time ever, I had come to a fork in the road in my journey with the Lord: continue living the faith passively or actually choose it. By God’s grace, I was able to choose it.

Sadly, I didn’t have much Catholic community where I went to school (Florida International University), and I knew that I couldn’t live out my faith alone. After searching for a while, I finally found community at UCatholic campus ministry at the University of Miami, and these God-centered friendships helped me strive for sainthood like I never had before. But it wasn’t until I encountered the Lord’s personal love for me did my relationship with Him actually begin to take off.

At some point after a Mass homily in 2021, I got prompted to ask the Lord a simple question in prayer: “Jesus, what do you want from me?”. I didn’t hear an audible response, nor did I see some sort of vision, but I did hear the voice of the Lord for the first time like a bullet to my heart. His response to me was even more simple than the question that I asked…

Justin: “Jesus, what do you want from me?”

Jesus: “You.”

Hearing this response changed absolutely everything for me. A combination of this, and the radical “2×4” encounter that I had with Jesus and His true presence in the Eucharist (which sparked my re-conversion in the first place) is why I am the man I am today. I am a missionary for this very reason. I have encountered the love of God in a very deep way, and all I want to do is help others encounter this love too!

When I answered the call to join FOCUS, I made the decision to rely on the spiritual and financial support of mission partners to help me through this mission. So far, I’ve been blessed with the most amazing people who have journeyed with me as I serve on campus.

If you are interested in partnering with me, please let me know of the best way to reach you, and we can schedule an appointment. I’d be honored to share this mission with you and welcome you into my mission family!